Finally Amman

After flying all night from New York, I finally made it to Amman for a three-day stay until I go back into Baghdad.

My driver picked me up at the airport and I immediately reached for my camera. The entire 45-minute drive to the hotel was punctuated with, “No, not here. Here OK. Not here. OK here”, as he pointed out places that was permitted to photograph and others that were not. I pretended selectively understand him, which drove him nuts.

Amman is fantastic, and I’ve grown to love this place more and more with each visit. I’m currently sitting outside on the balcony bar of the Hyatt looking out over the city lights, watching the locals smoke water pipes, listening to modern jazz, and drinking Chilean wine.

Tomorrow I have some business to take care of and then plan to take a walking tour of the immediate area. Wednesday I’m counting on a trip to Petra to take some pictures of Jordan’s most famous tourist site.